Dead And Deader

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All Rise...

Zombie movies are as plentiful as topsoil, but Judge David Johnson thinks this comedy horror flick stands out.

The Charge

Good and gooder?

Opening Statement

Another day, another zombie film. So what can Dead and Deader offer
the teeming hordes of genre fans that any of the quadrillion other zombie flicks
can't? Lots, I think.

Facts of the Case

An incursion by U.S. Special Forces into Cambodia ends in tragedy, when the
entire squad is ambushed and wiped out. Their bodies are packed up and sent back
home, but one of the soldiers, Lieutenant Quinn (Dean Cain), wakes up just
before his autopsy. Stunned, the doctors take his vitals and despite his obvious
motor-neurological function, he is legitimately dead. Quinn and the doctors have
little time to delve into his condition because all hell breaks loose as Quinn's
squad-mates start rampaging through the Army facility as flesh-eating
zombies.

Joining with Judson, the plucky chef (Guy Torry), Quinn manages to escape
the compound before getting mauled by the undead. Their escape takes them to an
out-of-the-way bar where they meet Holly (the beautiful Susan Ward), a film
student who is thrust unto the nightmare when the zombie soldiers lay siege to
the bar. This unusual trio must now unravel the secret to the infection and halt
the plague before it spreads to the civilized world.

The Evidence

Yep, nothing hugely innovative-sounding in that synopsis, huh? Aside from a
few genre tweaks, the textbook humans versus zombies play-by-play is in full
effect. But Dead and Deader, despite sporting the familiar trappings of
the many films before it, is great fun and distinguishes itself from the pack
with sharp, funny humor, rampant self-deprecation, and solid gore work. It's a
film that is obviously made by people with a love for the genre, and that
adoration shows. In short, if you're hankering for a gory, funny zombie comedy
(and you've watched Shaun of the Dead
to death), you should give this one a spin.

The best thing Dead and Deader has going for it is its humor, which
is honest-to-goodness funny, and not even
"funny-for-a-low-budget-zombie-movie." There are plenty of
laugh-out-loud lines and the actors, while not hamming up it so much that they
besmirch the production, have a lot of fun with their characters and obviously
have a decent sense of humor about themselves. Just check out the '80s-riffic
costumes the filmmakers had Cain (dressed as a Miami Vice cast-off), Ward (um, a former
member of Bananarama?) and Torry (this is thriller!) clad in for the
entire third act of the film. There's a definite sense of good times evident
throughout the runtime and it's—and this is going to be bad, so heads
up—infectious. Screenwriters Steve Kriozere and Mark Altman are obvious
film geeks, and their sharp script shows. Loads of pop culture reference are
sprinkled in, from Halo to a comparison of the original and remake of Dawn of the Dead (Quinn: "The
remake kicked ass.") The prize for greatest nerd banter goes to a random
conversation between two G.I.'s about who is the best James Bond. Man,
that conversation could have been lifted verbatim from any online film
message board. Geeks, these dudes are one of your own.

The other aspect of the zombie comedy genre is the "zombie," and
the film delivers on this front too. Likely taking a cue from Capcom's
Resident Evil 4, the source of the infection this go-round is a rare
breed of scorpion, which can extend a human being's life (a plot point focused
more on the third act when perennial bad guy-character-actor Peter Green enters
the scene), but have the nasty side effects of the zombie mayhem. Quinn was able
to escape this fate by cutting out the scorpion before it did too much damage,
thus giving him super zombie powers (healing, strength, advanced sense of smell,
etc.) without the need to eviscerate the closest person. He is able to wreak
much havoc on other zombies though, and this translates into cleverly staged
kill scenes. Zombies are face-fried on a grill, fed into a hamburger grinder
and, of course, shot in the head a whole lot. Meanwhile, many bystanders meet
their end with much plumes of red goo, and director Patrick Dinhut utilizes the
services of his talented gore effects crew to keep the floors sticky.

Anchor Bay offers another solid treatment, unleashing the film with a decent
1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and 5.1 surround mix. Extras include a
lengthy making-of documentary, audio commentary with the two writers, a photo
gallery and a DVD-ROM accessible script.